


it’s awkward but it’s okay

by pantheras (rewindmp3)



Series: out of the ordinary [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Getting Back Together, M/M, Post-Break Up, markhyuck essentially parent trap johnyong that’s it that’s the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:19:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25739446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rewindmp3/pseuds/pantheras
Summary: out of all the possible combinations of members, nobody expects one pair to be taeyong and johnny
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Series: out of the ordinary [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684090
Comments: 19
Kudos: 214





	it’s awkward but it’s okay

**Author's Note:**

> there are some references to the first fic in the series ([hoodie](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22262716)), but i think it can be read as a standalone

“Stop bouncing your leg, hyung,” Taeyong hears Donghyuck command through his earpiece. “And stop chewing at your fingers, too.”

Taeyong stills, brings his hand away from his mouth. Or, at least he tries to. He must not be very successful because he hears a soft sigh through his earpiece in a handful of moments and a quiet, “Ah, seriously, hyung. It’ll be okay.” Mark was always a little gentler when it came to Taeyong.

He can’t help that he’s nervous, though.

He’s not even sure why he’s here, to be honest. He thinks he has a pretty good relationship with all of his members, even the ones he rarely sees. Part of it comes from the fact that he’s been an official leader for the longest so everyone comes to him with problems (scheduling issues at first, before they’d all built up a strong enough trust for people to reach out to him for other things, emotional things. Taeyong’s grateful for that.). Part of it comes from the fact that he kind of just really _cares_. He’s always had a strong attachment to his family, has latched onto them with a force that surprises even himself sometimes. And now, his members are his family, too. He doesn’t ever want to let them go.

He has no idea who’s going to be at the other side of the table, and he’s _nervous_.

His manager had simply texted him that he would be part of the next set of members to film for the awkwardness series and had updated Taeyong’s filming schedule iCal with the date, time, and location. His manager hadn’t told him who he would be paired with, and neither have Mark or Donghyuck, who obviously know.

Taeyong had tried to get it out of Mark the first few days after he’d learned of the schedule. There’s no way he’d be able to wrangle the information out of Donghyuck. But Mark had been surprisingly tight-lipped, even with Taeyong, and had looked so guilty and _constipated_ every time Taeyong asked, that Taeyong had felt bad and stopped trying altogether.

So now, Taeyong’s got a bunch of wires attached to his body and a bundle of anxiety growing in his stomach as he waits for the other member to show up.

It’s a few more agonizing minutes of waiting before Taeyong hears the doorknob turn. He sits up straighter in attention, wanting to finally see who management has deemed him uncomfortable with. When he lifts his head up from his lap and locks eyes with the other member, he feels his heart slam to a halt, feels his entire body freeze. 

Johnny.

 _Ah, fuck_.

╳ ╳ ╳ ╳ ╳

It was Taeyong who did it.

Broke them up, he means.

It’s not that he wanted to, really.

If it were up to him, Donghyuck would basically have a room to himself, while he co-opts Johnny's presence and his warmth. If it were up to him, he and Johnny would still be going on dates every free moment they had together, would still FaceTime whenever Taeyong was away for a SuperM schedule, would still be in love. Because Taeyong is still so _desperately_ in love.

But it’s not up to him.

It had started off small. Johnny was slower to reply to texts, was shorter, more clipped in tone when he did. They were in the midst of comeback promotions, then, so Taeyong had understood. He didn’t push. He’d never liked doing that, and he always thought it was better for people to come to him if they had an issue with him, anyways. It was better than him trying to drag it out and causing more discomfort and resentment than he needed to.

Except it got… not quite _bigger_ , but definitely less small.

Johnny and Taeyong are professionals. They’ve been at this for years and have known each other for much, _much_ longer. They know how to work around each other through weird, disjointed moments, even though those moments used to be few and far between.

It’s no longer a rare occurrence, now.

The “less small” things: Johnny avoiding him on stage, when before Taeyong could cuddle up to him without question or Johnny would initiate antics and dramatics with Taeyong as his partner in crime. Johnny’s head bowed low when management tells him that he needs to interact with Taeyong more in front of the cameras, hugging Taeyong one moment then rewording his answers the next. Johnny flinching away from Taeyong even in private, spending less time with Taeyong and more time with _anyone_ else.

Still, Taeyong hadn’t pried.

They were doing _so well_. They’d been friends for so long before they told each other they were in love, and that made everything so much easier. Communicating was hard, it always is, but they’d been doing it for so long that it felt _natural_ despite it being difficult. Understanding each other was easy because it was built upon years and years and years of friendship and mutual trust and vulnerability first.

Taeyong wonders when that became no longer enough.

Taeyong wonders when _he_ became no longer enough.

He wonders if it was his asexuality, maybe, but Johnny wasn’t like that, was he? It hadn’t been a problem for months, but Taeyong wonders whether, if he were _normal_ , things wouldn’t be the way they are right now. He wonders if it was the way he’d get into his own head far too often, if it was the way he relied on Johnny to help get himself out. But he _trusted_ Johnny—so much, too much—and he was the only one who Taeyong would let himself crumble in front of. And maybe it was that.

It was partly his fault, too, for letting the chasm between them grow, grow, _grow_. The other members had noticed, Taeyong knew, but there wasn’t _really_ anything wrong and they were still getting along well enough for it not to impact their work, so nobody had an intervention, for him or for Johnny. They walked on eggshells around the dorm and during schedules, aware there was something _off_ , but not quite knowing how to fix it.

The chasm grew too wide, and Taeyong was too in love.

He saw how sullen Johnny had become—not unhappy, per se, but definitely not the bright ray of light Johnny usually was. Everyone has their off periods, sure, but Taeyong could tell the difference between Johnny being off with _everyone_ and Johnny being off with _him_.

Taeyong knew that he was the problem. He’d wracked his brains trying to think of what could’ve caused Johnny to start avoiding him like the plague, but he couldn’t figure anything out. He, himself, hadn’t started acting any differently, and none of the other members had any idea either. When he’d tried to talk to Johnny about it, all he got was a soft smile that didn’t reach Johnny’s eyes and a gentle “I’m just tired, Yongie, but it’s fine. We’re fine, okay?” that wasn’t sincere.

The only possible explanation that he could come up with was simple: Johnny was no longer in love.

It didn’t matter that Johnny had loved him for years before. People fall in and out of love all the time, sometimes for no particular reason at all. Taeyong wouldn’t blame Johnny for falling out of love with him. And Johnny was too _good_ to break Taeyong’s heart and leave him. Johnny always had the strongest sense of duty, of righteousness and morality and _service_ , out of them all. Taeyong knew that Johnny wouldn’t break up with him because Taeyong was still so obviously enamored, and Johnny wouldn’t allow himself to hurt Taeyong like that.

Taeyong could hurt himself, though. He could tear his own heart out of his chest and present it to Johnny like a bloody gift, a present to set Johnny free. So that’s what he did.

“I think we should break up,” Taeyong had murmured, pulse pounding in his ears and eyes pinned to the floor. His voice was steady, but he knew the façade would shatter as soon as he looked anywhere near Johnny’s face. He didn’t let himself look up. Not once.

Taeyong could hear the beginnings of his name coming from Johnny’s lips, but that’s all he let Johnny say. He knew that Johnny would protest for Taeyong’s sake, but it wasn’t worth it, if Johnny wasn’t happy.

“It’s okay,” Taeyong had said with a sad smile, still not daring to look up from the floor. “I understand. And I can’t be upset at you for falling out of love with me, I guess. I know it’s a lot. I’m a lot. I need too much, and I don’t give back nearly enough. I’m sorry for that. You’re not happy anymore, Johnny, and all I want is for you to be happy. I’m not making you happy anymore, so I’m letting you go.”

Taeyong had slipped away before Johnny could do anything. Staying there any longer would’ve crushed him beyond repair. He’d slipped away into his own room and locked the door behind him, grateful for once that he no longer shared it with anyone else. He’d planned this for a day where he didn’t have any schedules later. He didn’t leave his room at all afterwards, didn’t respond to pleas of his name, texts or calls on his phone, knocks on his door. He let the loneliness eat him whole. The next day, it was back to work.

Johnny promised that he’d put Taeyong’s broken pieces back together, but, well. It looks like there were too many pieces, and he’d cut himself open too many times, and Johnny had decided that it wasn’t worth it anymore. That Taeyong wasn’t worth it anymore. So Johnny had stopped.

It hurt. It hurt like hell. But what could Taeyong do?

╳ ╳ ╳ ╳ ╳

_I’m gonna fucking kill Hyuckie_ , Taeyong thinks to himself. First of all, management thought that he and Johnny were fine. Taeyong made sure of that. Second of all, there’s no way Mark would do this to him, either. Except, a memory flashes to the forefront of his mind, unbidden:

“-parents back together,” Mark was saying.

“I want that too, but how the hell are we gonna pull it off?” Hyuck responded.

“I have an idea…” Mark’s voice trailed off.

Taeyong had quickly left and let them be because he was certain that whatever scheme they were planning was something he decidedly _didn’t_ want to be aware of.

 _I’m gonna fucking kill them_ both, Taeyong rectifies. _Betrayed by my own son!_

Johnny sits down in front of him, wipes his palms on his thighs, coughs awkwardly.

God, maybe they _should_ be on this segment.

“Say hi and ask him how he’s doing, c’mon hyung,” Donghyuck says into his earpiece.

Taeyong bites back several curses and follows Donghyuck’s instructions. It’s not like he has a choice.

Johnny answers him, just as curt and uncomfortable as he has been for the past several weeks, and Taeyong feels another piece of his heart break and fall to the floor. A pained grimace flits across Johnny’s face before he’s standing up and taking the few short steps to cross the table. He’s in front of Taeyong now, looking _very_ unsure of himself.

“Stand up, too,” Hyuck directs into his ear. Taeyong sighs and stands, bracing himself for whatever the hell these two are about to make him and Johnny do.

As soon as Taeyong stands, Johnny hugs him.

Taeyong freezes.

_Fucking Mark. I trusted you._

It’s the first time they’ve been this close to each other in a while. They’re close, but not close enough. Never close enough. Johnny’s arms are loose around him. It’s such a foreign feeling, to _not_ be held tightly in Johnny’s embrace. It fucking _sucks_. It doesn’t even matter that Johnny’s barely holding him; it takes nearly all of Taeyong’s willpower not to sag against Johnny and bury his face in the crook of his neck, inhaling the comforting scent of _Johnny_.

Johnny doesn’t move away, surely by Mark’s command. He’s spent the last few weeks avoiding Taeyong’s touch like it _burns_. There’s no way he’s doing this willingly.

“Hello?” comes Donghyuck’s voice, “Earth to hyung? Hug him back!”

Taeyong hears the instruction and goes through the five stages of grief in the span of a second: _I don’t have to, do I? Of fucking course I do, we’re fucking filming, oh my god, I’m gonna_ murder _those two when we’re done. Maybe if I just… suddenly fainted… then I wouldn’t have to hug him or film the rest of this fucking segment. God, he probably hates me and thinks that I made Mark and Hyuckie do this and set him up and that I’m taking advantage of this whole situation. I really do have to hug him, don’t I._

He brings his arms around Johnny, careful to keep his distance. He doesn’t want Johnny to feel the way his heart is ramming against his ribs.

After a few seconds, when it becomes apparent that neither are going to move closer to each other, Taeyong hears, “Ugh, okay you can stop hugging now. This is gonna be harder than we thought.”

Hyuck’s mind is brilliant. To the audience, it seems like he’s just talking about how to get Johnny and Taeyong to stop being awkward with each other. But Taeyong knows he means something else entirely.

They both sit back down in their respective chairs. Taeyong doesn’t miss the way Johnny refuses to look him in the eye.

Taeyong sighs, “We’re supposed to do one of these missions whenever we feel awkward, right?” He plucks one of the little green rolls of paper from the jar. Anything so they aren’t just sitting there, not speaking to each other, while Taeyong spirals and wonders where it all went wrong and why he wasn’t good enough to fix them.

“Open it prettily,” Hyuck coos into the earpiece.

Taeyong rolls his eyes and ignores him, which Hyucks whines about. He stops whining, though, when Taeyong undoes the string and sees that the slip says “MC Mission.”

 _Good god._ The last few times they’ve filmed this, Hyuck’s made his puppet do really weird things. At this point, Taeyong honestly wouldn’t mind that. He’d get to see Johnny laugh again, even if it’s at his expense. That is, of course, if Johnny laughs.

This time, though, Hyuck’s voice goes all soft around the edges.

“Tell Johnny what your favorite thing about him is.”

Taeyong sucks in a breath.

He could lie. He could say something stupid and superficial, like Johnny’s abs or his arms or his hair. He could say something sarcastic and teasing, like the way Johnny spends all his money on coffee and clothes.

But, Taeyong thinks, if this is one of the last times he’ll get to talk to Johnny like this, one-on-one without the pretense of a meeting or practice or a group schedule, he may as well be honest.

“My favorite thing about Johnny…. It’s probably that he’s really persistent with the things that he loves,” Taeyong answers quietly. Johnny jerks his head to look at Taeyong. _He probably wasn’t expecting a serious response. Oh great, now I’ve fucked this up even more._

“Explain please,” Hyuck sing-songs into his ear.

“Well, our fans know that Johnny loves DJing and vlogging and making content for our fans. He’s always looking for ways to improve and give them more. Our fans might not expect it from how easy-going he is on camera, but Johnny’s really relentless about being better, learning more.”

Once he’s started, Taeyong finds that he can’t really stop.

“And, like, he loves his parents, so he always makes sure to call them and let them know. He always tries to ease their worries, too, and he’s super stubborn about it, even when they know there’s no way his life is as perfect as he makes it sound. But he loves them, so he’s adamant about protecting them from the not-so-pretty sides of his job.

“Even when we were trainees, Johnny worked _so hard_. I think, at that point, it was more about the people than the industry and the job, but he really loved his fellow trainees and wanted to be with them, so he worked hard to make that happen.

“He’ll probably be like that with whoever he ends up marrying, too,” Taeyong can’t help but say. He hopes he doesn’t sound as devastated as he feels. He hopes the tears stinging his eyes don’t spill over. “Persistent in the face of love. His partner will be really lucky.”

 _I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to give up on me_ , Taeyong doesn’t say. He hopes Johnny hears it anyway.

╳ ╳ ╳ ╳ ╳

Johnny had tried to talk to him the first couple of days after the break up, and then it was Taeyong’s turn to avoid him like the plague.

They’re usually very good at communicating. The best, Taeyong would say. Except for when it matters most.

Maybe it’s precisely because they’ve known each other for so long. They’re in too deep and they know exactly where to cut that’ll hurt the most. They’ve never actually had a fight like that before, where they’d used sharp words aimed to cut, but it was the possibility that they _could_ that made everything so scary.

They could _ruin_ each other, if they wanted to. Usually, they never want to. But it’s the times when it matters most that are exactly the times when they aren’t sure whether that “never” has disappeared.

So Taeyong had avoided Johnny, just like Johnny had avoided Taeyong, and in the end, both of them stopped trying.

That’s probably what hurts the most: the fact that they’ve both given up, like whatever they had wasn’t worth it—not just the romantic love, but the platonic love as well. Taeyong thinks that it’s worth _everything_ , and, more than anything, he hates that he’s lost his best friend.

He’s so tired, though, tired of getting his heart broken, whether that be by netizens or trainers or producers or… Johnny. Taeyong’s always been more sensitive than most, bordering on being an actual empath, if they existed outside the realm of science fiction. There’s only so much heartbreak he can take.

This is exactly why Taeyong was going to keep his damned feelings to himself, before that fateful day in the bathroom when Johnny had blurted out his own feelings first.

Taeyong would’ve happily hid just how much he loves Johnny forever. He would’ve happily watched Johnny fall in love with someone else, would’ve happily attended the wedding, the birthdays of Johnny’s kids, the holiday parties. Taeyong would’ve done it all because he loved Johnny and just wanted Johnny to be happy.

When Johnny confessed to him? When Johnny all but said that he would be happy with Taeyong? It felt like every dream he’s ever had just came true at once. Johnny wasn’t quite Taeyong’s everything, because Taeyong still had his mother and father and older sister and the rest of the members and his TyongFs, but he was close.

Being with Johnny was being on cloud nine. Johnny was perfect. He made Taeyong feel safe, like he didn’t need to have his guard up all the time, like he didn’t have to be some infallible leader, older brother, member, god. With Johnny, Taeyong could just be _Taeyong_ , and nothing else mattered.

Now that he’s had a taste, Taeyong doesn’t know if he could do it all anymore.

It’s selfish, to want Johnny for himself. It’s selfish because Taeyong should still want Johnny’s happiness, but he wants Johnny for himself and that’s clearly preventing Johnny from being happy. But Taeyong doesn’t know if he could do it all, if he could watch Johnny fall in love, get married, raise a family with someone other than himself.

The only thing he can think to do is grow a chasm so wide he can’t see Johnny and his perfection on the other side.

Taeyong thinks that even then, it wouldn’t be enough.

╳ ╳ ╳ ╳ ╳

While the rest of the videos in the series have been incredibly light-hearted and fun, full of body gags and stupid statements meant to embarrass the speaker and make everyone else laugh, this has been anything but.

Johnny and Taeyong have talked about only serious things: their first impressions of each other, the first time they met each other’s families, their favorite moments with each other from the last tour, their funniest stories from being roommates in the dorms.

Taeyong knows what Mark and Donghyuck are doing.

They’re basically having Johnny and Taeyong retell and relive every single happy memory that they’ve had together. The sentiment is sweet, but the way everything is making Taeyong feel is anything but.

It’d be far less painful, Taeyong thinks, to take a bath in a vat of acid or to put his body through a meat grinder, than to have every good thing he’s ever had with Johnny shoved in his face, knowing he can never have that again.

The kids, when they’re not pulling a prank, are _lovely_. Taeyong knows that they aren’t doing this to hurt him, that they just want Taeyong and Johnny back together, or friends again at the very least, but it’s hurting him all the same. Every second, Taeyong can feel his heart splinter, crack, cut his other organs open as the shards fall.

Every time Johnny looks at him, it’s as if Taeyong’s soul is being bared open for Johnny to see.

 _Hide_ , Taeyong thinks to himself. It’s all he’s been thinking to himself the past few weeks. _Hide, hide, hide. Hide, so Johnny doesn’t see. Hide, so Johnny can be happy and free._

He can’t hide, here. There’s not enough cover, what with Mark and Donghyuck making Taeyong all sentimental and shit. He’s never been good at holding himself back from gushing about the people he loves.

At one point, it becomes overwhelming.

The last thing Taeyong wants to do is to be unprofessional, especially with Johnny there. It’s not a panic attack, but Taeyong can feel something like it creeping up on him. He calls for a break.

The cameras turn off, and Taeyong rips the mic from his body. Staff will probably be annoyed at him, but he can put it back on himself later. He’s got enough practice for it.

Right now, though, he just doesn’t want to risk anybody else hearing what is probably an impending breakdown.

Taeyong makes a beeline for the bathrooms before Mark or Donghyuck or Johnny can say anything to him. He splashes cold water on his face to cool the burning, and he counts to himself, slowly, to anchor his breathing. It works, for the most part. Taeyong’s a bit calmer, feels a bit less like he’s standing on the edge of a dangerous precipice, about to teeter into a black hole.

He’s leaving the bathroom to tell the staff and his members that he’s ready to resume filming when he collides face-first into a solid chest.

Johnny.

“Hey, I was looking for you,” he says. He speaks as if he’s trying not to frighten a skittish animal.

“Well, you found me.” Taeyong aims to move, to get out of there, but Johnny’s voice stops him.

“Are you okay?”

Kind. Johnny's so _kind_. It’s not helping Taeyong at all.

“Thank you, Johnny, for caring,” he steels himself, “but it’s not your job to make sure I'm okay anymore. It never was, really, and I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way. You don’t need to worry about me anymore.”

“Taeyong,” Johnny says, and in his name alone Taeyong can tell that Johnny’s upset. _Dear god, I’ve fucked up again._ “I'll always care about you. I’ll always worry about you.”

“Maybe you should stop.” Taeyong’s throat is dry. His voice nearly cracks. The words hurt to force out. They feel almost metallic on his tongue.

Johnny runs his fingers through his hair and huffs out a frustrated sigh. Taeyong wants to run.

“I don’t know where you came up with the idea, but I’ve never stopped being in love with you, I hope you know that.”

Taeyong’s eyes widen in shock. Johnny continues like he’s possessed, like he’s Taeyong when given the order, “Tell Johnny what your favorite thing about him is.”

“I was distant because I felt like I wasn’t good enough, which sounds really fucking stupid now that I’m saying it out loud. But, _god_ , Taeyong, you’re literally perfect. I know you don’t see yourself like that, but you’re seriously out-of-this-world _perfect_. It's so intimidating to be around you, to look up to you even though I’m technically a few months older.

“I feel like I need you all the time, your presence itself and the way you seem to know everything, but you don’t need me the same way, because you’re perfect, and… I don’t know, I guess I just got scared. I got scared and I got wrapped up in my own head and I know you like to wait for others to come to you, but I felt like this was something I had to sort out on my own and I guess I took too long and the next thing I knew, I’d lost you and it felt like my whole world was ending.

“I know I made you think that I had fallen out of love with you, but I haven’t. I really haven’t, Taeyong, you have to believe me. I don’t care about anything else; you have to believe me about this.

“You’re the first person I’ve ever _really_ been in love with, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.”

“Oh, Johnny,” Taeyong murmurs, brushing away the stray tears on Johnny’s cheeks, “you, of all people, should know that I’m not perfect. I thought… I thought that was why you stopped talking to me. Because you’re the only person I ever really let myself break down in front of, and I was counting on you too much to hold me together when I couldn’t do it myself. I thought you got tired of me, that I was wearing you out by making you put together my broken pieces again.”

“I’d never get tired of that,” Johnny protests. “And I promised, didn’t I? I promised to pick up every piece of you no matter what, even if my hands bleed red with cuts. I- I hate that I made you think otherwise.”

“It wasn’t just you. I was at fault, too, for not saying anything either.”

“You’re still perfect to me,” Johnny insists as he cups Taeyong’s face in his hands and runs his thumbs across Taeyong’s cheekbones. See? Persistent in the face of love. “Even if you make mistakes, you acknowledge them and try better next time. Perfect.”

Taeyong begins to protest, but Johnny cuts him off with narrowed eyes and, “I’m not letting you argue with me about this. Like, they literally put you in SuperM. You’re perfect.”

“They put Mark in that, too, y’know,” Taeyong counters.

“Yeah, well, I’m not in love with Mark, am I? I’m in love with _you_ , and I say you’re perfect.”

Taeyong shakes his head at the ridiculousness of it all, but doesn’t say anything else. He knows when he’s lost.

They’re quiet, in that barely lit hallway, for a few moments. Then, Johnny asks, “Was there anything else?”

Taeyong averts his eyes, answer obvious in that movement alone. His hands drop from Johnny's face back to his sides.

“Tell me,” Johnny says. “It’s okay, I’m a big boy. I can take it.”

“There was the ace thing,” Taeyong mumbles.

“What?”

“I wasn’t sure if maybe I just… wasn’t enough. That you wanted something I couldn’t give you, and I’d understand if that’s the case, because really, you deserve someone who can give you _everything_ , and I don’t- I don’t know if I can and-”

“Taeyong,” Johnny interrupts. “Look at me, please?”

Johnny gently pinches Taeyong’s chin between his thumb and his index finger, angles Taeyong's face so they’re looking at each other, eye to eye. In contrast, Johnny’s gaze is piercing, borderline ferocious in its intensity.

“That will _never_ be a problem. Ever. I don’t give a shit, and I’d be offended that you even thought it’d matter, if I didn’t know you and your mind as well as I do. I’m not saying it’s an invalid concern to have—about me, or people in general—but I’m telling you that I will _never_ care about that. I love you for all of you, and that includes you being ace, okay?”

“Okay,” Taeyong breathes out shakily. He offers Johnny a small smile, “I believe you.”

“Good.” The smile Johnny returns to him is triumphant. “Are you my boyfriend again? Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“Yes, Johnny,” Taeyong laughs, “I’m your boyfriend again.”

╳ ╳ ╳ ╳ ╳

“I still can’t believe you guys fucking _Parent Trap_ ’ed us,” Johnny says a few days later.

Donghyuck—who is besides Taeyong in the kitchen, helping him cook—snorts. In the living room, Mark and Johnny are setting up the TV.

They didn’t actually continue filming that day.

When Johnny and Taeyong had come back from the hallway, hand-in-hand and smiling, Mark and Donghyuck had taken one look at them, cheered _very_ loudly, and called the whole thing off. It was, apparently, not actually a schedule given to them by management, but by Hyuck’s conniving ass. Mark had given him the idea, and Hyuck had managed to rope everyone who knew about Johnny and Taeyong as Johnny-and-Taeyong into it, including their managers, a few staff, the works.

Taeyong would say he’s surprised at the extent to which Mark and Hyuck had planned this whole thing just to get him and Johnny back together, but he can’t because it’s Mark and Hyuck.

“Well, it worked, didn’t it,” Mark retorts. He sounds slightly out of breath, and when Taeyong turns to look at him and make sure that he’s alright, he watches with fond eyes as Mark wrestles with a mound of blankets.

He and Hyuck finish plating up the food and bring it into the living room, where Johnny and Mark have just finished building the blanket fort and arranging the pillows. They all fall into a heap on the floor, and Mark and Donghyuck waste no time in arguing over what they’re going to watch.

Over the heads of the arguing, now wrestling, kids, Taeyong and Johnny exchange a smile. Taeyong wraps his arms around Mark’s waist, Johnny does the same with Hyuck, and they haul them apart, tucking each one against one of their sides.

Here, under the covers with Mark cuddled up to his left, Johnny’s arm slung around his shoulders to his right, and Hyuck one Johnny away, Taeyong thinks he knows what it’s like to have it all.

**Author's Note:**

> um yes i wrote this really quickly (as in, had the thought after breakfast, wrote the fic after lunch, published it after dinner) so it’s unbeta’d and barely proofread as always :S
> 
> the summary WAS gonna include the exact number of combinations (NOT permutations bc order doesn’t matter here), but i didn’t want ot21 vs not stans coming at my throat (also bc i personally don’t really have an opinion on it), but if anyone’s curious: 21 choose 2 = 210, and 14 choose 2 = 91 possible pairs, including and excluding wayv members, respectively
> 
> ANYWAYS, comments & kudos are always appreciated ^.^ ♡
> 
> ** update: 23 choose 2 = 253 loll
> 
>   
>  [twt](https://twitter.com/maddogmp3) || [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/maddogmp3)


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